


Cold in the air

by Dusklatte



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Based around one year after the end of the GD route, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, F/M, Fodlan politics (at start of first chapter), Illnesses, Post-Golden Deer Route (Fire Emblem: Three Houses)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-27
Updated: 2019-12-27
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:02:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,210
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21992629
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dusklatte/pseuds/Dusklatte
Summary: Claude doesn't (want to) see that he is ill, especially when a series of important discussions regarding Fodlan and Almyra's future are happening.Byleth is having none of it.
Relationships: My Unit | Byleth/Claude von Riegan
Comments: 3
Kudos: 48





	Cold in the air

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to write something fluffy and cute-ish with my favourite three houses couple after I got stuck in a lift with my dad for a good while yesterday... Most terrifying experience of my damn life.

At first, everything had seemed fine. Claude had returned to Fódlan from Almyra after taking a few weeks away to deal with some of the political arguments taking place there. Byleth had been excited, as it was the first time she had seen him in almost two months. She had a mysterious feeling in her chest as she waited on the day of his return, and it only subsided once she was able to hold her husband in her arms.

From there on, there had been further discussions held in Derdriu regarding the current state and future of Fódlan (and to some extent, Almyra) in the location where the Alliance Roundtable gatherings would have been held in the past. Again, all seemed well, aside from the recent temperature drop and a few people withdrawing from the conversations as they had fallen unwell.

However, as of the third day of discussions came to a close, Byleth was feeling tired out. The conversations had been long and tedious, and she had to repeatedly act as a mediator between former Alliance, Kingdom and Empire nobles. It was clear that Claude was just as exhausted too, if not more so.

“Right. Is there anything else about the trade routes across Ailell, the Oghma mountains, the Airmid River and Fódlan’s Throat which we need to discuss? Before anyone comments on it, we are going to discuss legislation and tariffs with regard to trade with Almyra _tomorrow,”_ Byleth stated, her face being as stoic as it had been from back in her mercenary days. Her eyes glanced across the group of people sat around the table, before standing up and nodding. “Good. That concludes today’s discussions.” Finally, her eyes fell onto Claude, who appeared to be struggling to maintain concentration on the talking as he was trying to cover his face with his gloved hands. “Everyone is dismissed, I’m sure that by now you all know where you are stay-”

A loud sneeze cut Byleth off, the noise catching her by surprise as everyone turned to face the noise’s culprit. “Sorry, sorry...” Claude muttered, his eyes finally meeting Byleth’s. His face was normally bright and cheerful, a ray of light amongst the dullness of the royal duties that had tangled themselves into. But at present, he looked completely drained. Gone was the light in his eyes, and now they looked somewhat sunken. His cheeks were flushed too, clearly not as a result of embarrassment of sneezing amongst some of the most prominent people in Fódlan.

“As I was saying… Everyone is dismissed. If there is anything which people want raised as a priority tomorrow, please inform Seteth in writing, rather than raising it with me...” Byleth paused for a moment, when she noticed that Seteth was now giving her a deeply concerned glare. “Claude, you stay there for a second...”

Steadily, the people in the room began to file out, and during this, Seteth stopped next to her and whispered quietly to her. “You did not inform me of this change in process, what has brought this on?”

“I feel that Claude is unwell. He has gone from the heat of Almyra to this horrific chill that’s covered the entirety of Fódlan in under a week. At the very least, I want to keep an eye on him, and that is something I can’t do if I’m dealing with bratty nobles with their agendas. You are the most reliable person that I know, and if push comes to shove… I can trust you to keep things running if neither of us can attend tomorrow. You know the drills, and most importantly, you can negotiate when they are being unreasonable.”

Seteth was silent for a moment, before he sighed alongside giving her a brief nod. “As you wish, your majesty.”

After another few seconds, the doors to the room closed, leaving both Byleth and Claude behind. Claude was still sat at his seat, but now had his eyes closed as he leaned the chair back onto its back two legs. Byleth began to walk over to him, and after a few steps, she could see his nose scrunching up and him moving his hand up and down slightly, as though debating whether he brought it up to his face.

Then she saw him lose his balance on the chair. Another loud sneeze echoed around the room, followed by a loud yell as the seat fell back. Fortunately, Byleth had pre-empted the fall based on his little actions before the sneeze, and managed to grab hold of her husband before he too joined the chair on the floor.

“Ah… Thanks for that, my queen in shining armour...” He mumbled, his tone of voice sounding slightly nasal as she helped him keep his balance after pulling him up into a standing position. “Sorry about that sneeze when you were talking before, I didn’t mean to be rude or anything.”

“Sneezes are _never_ intentional, Claude. Neither is catching an illness, which I think you have done.” She released her grasp of him, and crossed her arms over. “I can already tell what you’re going to say – that you’re not ill, and it’s just the dust in the room. But if that were the case, others in the room would have been sneezing. That, and you should _probably_ use this tissue...” She reached behind her to a box of tissues which had been resting on the table, originally there after some tea had been spilled earlier that morning. “You’ve got a little something… all there.” She pointed at his nose and moved her finger in a slight circle.

“It’s all coincidental, By… Nothing to worry about.”

Byleth kneeled down to pick up Claude’s seat, before pulling out a chair beside it at the table so that she could sit down. He was clearly being stubborn, so she started asking questions. “How is your head feeling?”

“A bit achy, but that’s just from dealing with some of those pompous former nobles.”

“How about your throat?”

Claude raised an eyebrow as he sat down on the chair, took a deep breath, and pulled his feet up onto the table. “A bit ticklish. It’s been like that since breakfast, and nothing a drink of water can’t fix.”

By this point, Byleth was wanting to sigh out loud, knowing that Claude was definitely ill, but deflecting his symptoms off as something else. So, she went and did one other thing which she knew would be the final telltale sign that he was unwell, which he couldn’t refute. The room was heated, but that was just to fight off some of the cold in the air. Not enough to make someone flushed and overheated. She pressed the back of her hand to his forehead, and had to quickly pull it back due to how burning hot he was.

“Right, we’re going to return home, and you, Claude von Riegan, are going to get changed and get straight into bed. No ifs and or buts. I will make a pot of Almyran pine needle tea and see if we have any stew left over from yesterday night to heat up. You’re on bed-rest until I say so.”

Claude’s eyes widened at Byleth’s orders, and his jaw dropped open slightly. “Hey, you can’t do that! I will be needed at the discussions tomorrow!”

“Seteth will have everything under control as I look after you, and we planned for Nader to attend in your stead if you would be unable to attend at any point, remember?”

“We’re the king and queen of Fódlan and Almyra, wouldn’t it be seen as bad if neither of us attend?”

“Claude… You’re _ill._ And I want to see you get better, so I am choosing to look after you and help you recover. If those self-righteous former nobles can’t see that the king and queen are just as human as anyone else, then they can be damned.” She then leaned in and pressed a light kiss to his cheek. “So, what do you say to getting out of here and heading home before it starts to snow?”

He was silent for a moment, which was disturbed by him sneezing and rubbing his nose. “… Yeah, if you say so...”

  
  


* * *

* * *

  
  


Upon returning to their home, the first thing which Byleth noticed was Claude shivering, and his teeth clattering together. She felt bad for him, having to return whilst things were so cold, but it was a necessity to achieve a lasting peace in Fódlan and Almyra. That, and the temperature was unfortunately a lot colder than it normally would be at this time of year.

Before she could say anything though, she heard the sound of his boots being pulled off, and heavy footsteps heading up the stairs. She felt some relief that he had listened to her when she had asked for him to go straight to bed.

Without hesitation, she made a beeline to the kitchen, and let off a small sigh of relief that there was more than enough leftovers from the night before. The stew had been a simple one, loosely based on the Daphnel stew recipe which Claude had enjoyed from when they were both at Garreg Mach. The cold had made some of the ingredients – in particular the poultry – hard to find in the markets in Derdriu, but there had been nothing a small hunt the previous evening once discussions had been over couldn’t solve. If anything, they were now over-abundant in that one ingredient, so Claude had suggested giving it to those who weren’t so well off after they had finished the discussions.

With a hum, she used a bit of fire magic to start to heat up the pot which the stew was resting in, and once that was simmering away, she did the same with a teapot. Now she just had to wait.

As she impatiently leaned against a counter, absently stirring the stew so that it wouldn’t burn to the sides of the pot, her eyes shifted towards the large windows which would normally fill the room with a warming light. This time, all she could see was the deep grey clouds, and the first few flakes of snow falling to the ground.

_She hated when the weather was dull like this._

After another few minutes, she began to smell the tea alongside the stew in the air, so she silently put out the flames which were heating them, before searching through the cupboards to find some bowls and teacups.

When she managed to serve up the stew, and had it ready on a tray to take upstairs… There was a large thud from directly above her.

“Damn it, Claude…”

  
  


* * *

* * *

  
  


Claude groaned as he lifted his arm up, and did his best to grab hold of the bedsheets to pull himself up from the floor. Sadly, all that he accomplished there was remaining in a crumbled heap, blankets on top of him, and him being out of sight of the door.

He wasn’t too sure about how he managed to suddenly feel so _drained,_ but he knew one thing in particular – he did _not_ like it. Despite how much he refused to believe it was true, perhaps Byleth had been right in saying that he was unwell and needed to rest in bed.

He hated how pathetic it felt. He was a king, a strategist, and an ambassador to Almyra – and he was needed to be well, and present at all of the current political meetings. He could imagine the looks on his parents faces… His father grumbling that he was a weakling, and needed to be stronger than a mere sickness. His mother would just be shaking her head and sighing. They wouldn’t be angry at him though... just disappointed.

As those thoughts went through his head, he never heard the door to the room opening. What’s more, his blocked nose prevented him from being able to smell his favourite stew and his favourite tea entering the room with his favourite person. He didn’t hear the tray being placed down either.

He only became aware of Byleth’s presence when he saw a shadow loom over him as a head appeared over the edge of the bed. “Are you having fun down there, or would you prefer to be lying in bed?”

Tiredly, he gazed up and weakly smiled as he saw a few loose strands of her hair which hadn’t been tied up fall to the sides of her face. “By… I feel too tired to move… I tried to get back up but that just ended up with the blankets falling on me...” He mumbled, reaching his hand up to hold her own. She took hold of the hand, gave it a reassuring squeeze, before sitting up and throwing her legs over the side of the bed.

“Let’s get you up then. Take hold of my hands and I’ll do the rest.”

Once Claude did as she told him to, he felt a slight wave of dizziness as she pulled him up to his feet. Before he could fall down once more, she wrapped her arms around him and pulled his head onto her shoulder. “I’ve got you, Claude… I’ve always got you...”


End file.
